


Shake A Hand

by Not Applicable (not_applicable)



Series: My Gen Prompt Bingo Card [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Gen, Holding Hands, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-04 10:52:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_applicable/pseuds/Not%20Applicable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neither Bruce nor Steve has seen a real Christmas in a while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shake A Hand

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for my [Gen Prompt Bingo Card](http://not-applicable.dreamwidth.org/3376.html): #4, **Christmas.** MCU-verse with family details borrowed from Marvel 616.

Bruce didn't get up immediately once he woke. He saw the sunrise over the city and smiled from his bed, then rolled back over and went back to sleep.

He got a text about twenty minutes later. _MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIEND_ in all-caps from Thor. Bruce responded with the same, then kept sleeping.

Ten minutes later he got three more from Tony, Clint, and Natasha respectively. Natasha's followed up with _come to the living room_ and Bruce felt his chest tighten for a moment. He'd spent last Christmas sweating in a Maori hut in New Zealand. His hosts had known it was Christmas but they didn't care, and honestly neither had Bruce. Bruce had more important things to do than spend money and wear sweaters, and in the end he'd been able to trace that tribe's dysentery outbreak to donated foodstuffs from overseas. He could feel good about spending Christmas that way.

There was a knock on Bruce's bedroom door, and whoever was knocking didn't wait for a response before opening the door. It was Steve and he was dressed in pajama pants and an Avengers t-shirt, a piece of post-battle marketing that Bruce had noticed Steve eyeballing the last time they'd visited a mall together. Captain America was in the center of the photo being flanked by Iron Man, Thor, and Black Widow, and Hawkeye and the Hulk were both clinging to buildings in the background.

“Are you coming or what?” Steve said, eyes bright, and he stepped further into the room. “I love it” - and Steve plucked at his t-shirt - “Thank you so much, I just love it.”

Bruce was sitting up in bed now and picking at his eyes, which he was sure were all crusted over from sleep. He wasn't wearing a shirt and it made him feel odd in front of Steve, the copyedited-and-revised version of whatever the Hulk was supposed to be. “You're welcome,” Bruce mumbled, and Steve began to walk over to the bed. “Glad you like it.”

“There's stuff for you, too,” Steve said, and he took a seat on the bed beside Bruce. “Everyone's in the living room opening presents. Sorry we didn't wait for you.”

“S'okay,” Bruce said as he put on his glasses. “Christmas is pretty much a luxury for me at this point.” _It was back when I was a kid, too,_ he thought, but no one needed to hear that sob story. He made a mental reminder to go back to Ohio now that he was in the USA again and place flowers on his mother's grave. He also reminded himself to do absolutely nothing to his father's grave.

“Well, not anymore,” Steve said lightly, and he dropped a hand onto Bruce's, which lay on the bedsheets. “I get it. I haven't had a real Christmas since my folks died. I mean, Bucky and I always made it fun, traded gifts and stuff like that, but...you have _got_ to come to the living room. There's stuff under the tree for you.”

Bruce smiled and turned his hand in Steve's, letting him grip firmly and pull Bruce up out of the bed. He slipped on a t-shirt and let Steve take his hand again (why did Bruce find that so comforting?) and he was led into the living room where Clint was examining what looked to be handmade (or Tony-made, more accurately) throwing knives and Pepper was holding a gorgeous pair of shoes while hugging Natasha, who was wearing fuzzy slippers that Bruce knew were made of Russian sable. Thor was reading _Alive_ by Piers-Paul Read, a book that Bruce had gotten for him – a story of bravery in the face of almost certain death. Tony was sitting on the couch with Rhodey and looking through a photo album with him, Rhodey's arm around Tony's shoulders while they pointed and mumbled quietly about the memories on the page.

“Merry Christmas,” Bruce heard in his ear, and now Steve was pulling him over to the tree, a gorgeous live fir done in every color. None of them had wanted to choose a theme for the tree. They wanted it to be all-inclusive, all colors allowed, a tree for everyone. “The rest of these are yours,” Steve continued, pointing to a pile of wrapped presents that still sat beneath the tree. On the couch Tony was giving Rhodey a tiny kiss before turning the page of the photo album, and Rhodey gave a nervous glance around the room – he'd only met everyone once before, so he was still a bit shy though Tony was always anything but. Now Natasha was wearing the fancy pumps she'd gotten Pepper for Christmas, prancing around in her pajamas and $4,000 shoes. Donny Hathaway's Christmas hit from decades ago was playing and Clint was mumbling along as he put his knives away, his lips grinning with satisfaction. “ _Shake a hand, shake a hand now_...”

Steve and Bruce knelt down beneath the tree and Steve picked up a small box wrapped in paper and string instead of modern multicolored gift wrap, and he shoved it towards Bruce's hands. Steve's face was turning red but his smile was bright, his hand still holding firmly onto Bruce's. “This one's from me.”


End file.
